The Ark Collective Backpacks Help with a 'Get to Give' Model

Just like many of the one-for-one giving tools we've featured, The Ark Collective operates on a "Get to Give" social business model. Each time you buy an Ark backpack, you're also giving a backpack to a child in need.

"Currently, 14 million students throughout the United States live below the poverty level and many of these students attend class with nowhere to store supplies, books, a change of clothes, or even a sack lunch," Ark Collective explains on their website.

Ark's Get to Give model is becoming more familiar to customers thanks to the tremendous success of TOMS Shoes, who helped make the "buy one give one" model an international business success story. Because people are familiar with it, and evidently supportive, it's easy to see why the The Ark Collective Get to Give model has potential to be an instant hit with school-aged children.

The social enterprise was started by Kev Mosh who studied Business Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California, where his interest for creating positive change was sparked. A born innovator, he is constantly experimenting with new ways to grow the business and his social mission.

"Ark Collective recently improved their giving model by implementing a pseudo currency to incentivize the students," Wikipedia explains. "The newly restructured model requires students to write a letter to their schools about what they want to be when they grow up and how they will achieve their goals. Along with the essay, students must turn in plastic bottles to their respective schools for recycling purposes and in return, Ark Collective will trade each student a brand new backpack."

In addition to the regular backpacks, the Ark Collective also offers a special artist series, as well as laptop packs, sweaters and t-shirts.